A builder was booked on Saturday by the special investigation team (SIT), probing the NH 74 scam, on the charges of money trailing along with her business partner, police said.
Compensations in crores of rupees were given to farmers for agricultural land, acquired for NH 74 expansion in Udham Singh Nagar, at commercial rates. Officials changed the nature of land from agricultural to commercial and got shares from the compensations, showed the SIT report on the NH 74 scam , estimated to be worth Rs 400 crore.
Urban development minister Madan Kaushik had honoured the builder, Priya Sharma, in Dehardun on Wednesday for providing better services in real estate sector in Uttarakhand. Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat was present on the occasion.
Sharma is the managing director of Allied Plus Infra and Others Pvt Ltd, which is involved in developing housing colonies under the ‘Panchvati’ brand in Udham Singh Nagar district.
Her name cropped up during the SIT probe after Jeeshan, a stamp vendor from Kashipur, was arrested for his role as a broker in the compensation scam. During questioning, the probe team knew that Jeeshan had purchased a piece of land on Rampur road in Rudrapur from Priya’s company for Rs 3.62 crore. He paid the builder Rs 1.50 crore as advance from his bank account in Kashipur, and Rs 40 lakh as cash.
{{/usCountry}}Her name cropped up during the SIT probe after Jeeshan, a stamp vendor from Kashipur, was arrested for his role as a broker in the compensation scam. During questioning, the probe team knew that Jeeshan had purchased a piece of land on Rampur road in Rudrapur from Priya’s company for Rs 3.62 crore. He paid the builder Rs 1.50 crore as advance from his bank account in Kashipur, and Rs 40 lakh as cash.
{{/usCountry}}Sharma made an agreement with Jeeshan for the land sale on a stamp paper of Rs 100 instead of a registered deal as per the law. Rudrapur police circle officer Swantra Kumar lodged an FIR on the land sale.
When the probe progressed, it came to light that the land was not in the name of Sharma or her company. It was Jagsharan Singh who had the power of attorney on behalf of the land owner, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; a case relating to the ownership is pending in the high court at Nainital.
The FIR reads, “Illegal procedure was adopted in the entire deal because the amount belonged to commission for hefty compensation which was distributed by officers to farmers. Jeeshan played a broker between farmers and officers involved in the scam and wanted to hand over the amount to the officers through Allied Plus Infra…”
Police registered the case against Sharma and her business partner for fraudulence and tempering with the documents; Jeeshan has already been in jail.
Refuting the allegations Sharma said in a statement, “This is a conspiracy against me. When a buyer comes to any company or builder, his source of income or money is never asked by the seller.”
Saurabh Narang, a resident of Awas-vikas colony of Rudrapur, also lodged a case of fraud last week against Sharma for breach of a deal. Sharma filed a petition in the high court seeking quashing of Narang’s FIR, but the HC dismissed her plea four days back.